But a Number
by PadfootMarauder
Summary: Hermione likes Fred, Fred likes Hermione. Things should be simple...right? Two years later Hermione's feelings start coming back but Fred is hiding something from everyone. Will love beat all odds? R&R


**A/N: Ok look I know this would never happen and that the song I've used in this chapter was not written until many years later I don't really care. Just go along with it and enjoy.**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the song I have used<br>**

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><p>Hermione sighed, she was sitting in the Gryffindor common room after a long day and was failing to stay focused on her homework, which was very strange because she always managed to stay focused no matter what was on her mind, even when she was worrying about Harry being in the tri-wizard tournament the year before she managed to stay ahead in all of her classes but for some reason she couldn't. She ran a hand through her already unruly hair and absent-mindedly started playing with the lid to one of her ink bottles. She was twirling it around her fingers and tapping it against the table slightly, on the outside it looked as though she were thinking of an answer to a question or simply reliving the class from earlier that day but inside she was thinking about a certain red headed twin she had, had a crush on since… well forever really.<br>Brown eyes looked up to meet blue; he smiled down at her and drew her closer to him, his arms protectively wrapping themselves around her waist. She sighed happily loving the feel of his arms around her, she was happy that he had finally realised how she felt. Fred pulled away and looked deep into her eye's again  
>"Hermione" He began. She was about to reply when she noticed that it wasn't Fred who was talking "Hermione!" He repeated again.<br>"Yes Ronald"" Hermione replied to the red headed boy who had snapped her out of her day dream  
>"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly<br>"Yes, why wouldn't I be?"  
>"Well you've been staring at the wall for about five minutes now". Hermione sighed and thought of an excuse<br>"Well I was thinking of a question…" She started "You know, the one McGonagall asked us all during class"  
>"What, do you have a quill?" Harry laughed. Hermione glared at the raven haired boy, he never paid attention in lessons yet he suddenly decided that he had to pay attention on the one day that Hermione wished he really hadn't<br>"Yes!" Hermione stated "And I couldn't help but think, do I have a quill? Is it one that I like? Does it work… is it fake… Is it that one I really wanted to buy in Diagon Alley a few weeks back?"  
>Harry snickered at this and Hermione hit him on the arm glaring at him again. He looked into her eyes as though searching for something hidden in them. Hermione wasn't sure what to think about because she knew that if she thought about <em>him<em> Harry would realise. Her eyes always gave her away, well that's what she was told anyway. No matter what she tried to hide, even if she managed to hide it well from other people Harry always managed to figure out what it was from her eyes  
>"Hermione, what are you hiding?" He asked<br>"Nothing!" She said all too quickly  
>"Hermione" He said one eyebrow raised, Hermione knew she wouldn't be able to get away from this<br>"Your Christmas present!" She blurted out the first thing which came to mind "I got you something great and I really want to tell you but I can't"  
>Harry rolled his eyes, obviously not believing her but decided to leave it and walked away but as he walked past he whispered in her ear<br>"Tell me later, Midnight… after everyone else has gone up"  
>Hermione sighed knowing she had no choice, she had to tell him. As she watched Harry leave with Ron following him seconds after she couldn't help but feel bad for Ron. She put her head in her hands and took a deep breath before resting her elbows on the table as they had been before and trying to get back to her homework.<p>

The common room started to empty at around ten thirty, all the younger years had gone up early not enjoying the early mornings and getting tired out from excitement of the day and the lessons it held. Only a few people milled around now, most of them being Sixth or Seventh years Hermione didn't know all that well.  
>"Night Mione" Neville Longbottom said smiling and walking up the stairs towards the dorm he shared with Ron, Harry, Seamus and Dean. After Neville left Hermione sat curled up in a chair by the fire reading one of the muggle novels she had packed in her trunk. The minutes ticked by as she waited for Harry to come down and force the truth out of her. After about a quarter of an hour she heard footsteps coming from the stairs which lead towards the dormitories. She sunk lower into the chair just in case it wasn't Harry<br>"Mione!" She heard a whisper echo around the silent common room  
>"Over here" She replied sitting up properly. She heard Harry walk towards her and sighed, how would she get away with this one<br>"So" Harry started sitting on the chair next to hers "What was that earlier?"  
>"I told you, I was thinking about a quill" She said<br>"Hermione, I'm not that thick" Harry muttered rolling his eyes  
>"Well come on it was a nice quill" She pointed out<br>"Yes it was a nice quill" Harry admitted "But that's not what I want to talk about"  
>"Fine" Hermione sighed "You remember second year… when I had a thing for Fred, Well I though after we had decided the whole him being too old for me thing that my feelings would just… go away, but they haven't and I don't know what to do because I think I like him again and I know that he probably doesn't like me and that he's probably falling for some other girl but he's managed to worm himself right into my heart and I don't think that I can stop the feelings I have this time. Don't get me wrong I know that I'll probably never get him but things just happen and feelings never really go away, I don't really know what to do anymore. I'm confused, should I ask him how he feels or should I just leave it because I don't want to make things awkward between us again. Age is just a number! It's a number and nothing more! And it's not like he's even that much older than me, Two years! That's not that bad so why didn't he want to go out with me…"<br>Harry blinked trying to understand Hermione's ramblings, in the end he placed a hand over her mouth ignoring it as she kept talking and sighed  
>"Hermione"<br>Hermione carried on talking although all Harry could hear at that moment was a muffled muttering as his hand was still covering her mouth. He couldn't think or anything to do so he sat like that for a few minutes before releasing his hand again  
>"… It's not like I'm the youngest girl he's ever dated, I mean in our third year he was flirting with that Hufflepuff in our year and she's younger than me!" Hermione ended pouting<br>"Hermione?" Harry asked warily  
>"Yeah?"<br>"Take a breath" He muttered chuckling slightly "and can I have my say now?"  
>"Go ahead" She smiled<br>"Okay" Harry started "For one thing, since when have you liked Fred?"  
>"Since second year" Hermione admitted sheepishly<br>"Okay… well…" Harry started but Hermione wasn't listening to him. Instead she was thinking back to when it all began… her second year at Hogwarts 

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><p><strong>*Hogwarts Express*<strong>

Hermione sat in an empty carriage her head was as usual stuck in a book. She was reading not out of willingness this time but to try and get a song out of her head, during the car ride to Kings Cross Station she had been listening to the radio when a song by one of her favourite muggle bands came on. She had unknowingly been singing it out loud whilst sitting in the compartment.  
>"Life isn't fair for the people who care<br>Stick your nose in the air and that's how you go far  
>So go tell your lovers, your fathers and brothers<br>Your sisters and mothers how lucky they are" She hummed the tune of the song singing the words in her head. She hadn't realized that the train had started to move as she had been concentrating so much on her book. She started reading the first page of her book but got no further than the first line before the song started playing itself in her head again.  
>"Light speed, out of my mind<br>I'm hurt, but I'll be fine  
>Put you fist in the air,<br>Raise your voice and declare,  
>singing: We don't care"<br>She stopped singing as she heard giggling outside her compartment. She sighed as the two fifth year girls ran off, people were always mean to her, they didn't see her smartness as a good thing, but Hermione didn't care "So here's another song for the radio  
>And here's another line from the heart<br>So don't pretend you hate us when you sing along  
>'Cuz we all look the same in the dark" She sung loudly ignoring the peoples staring. She looked back down at her book, her bushy hair framed her face hiding it from passers-by. A knock on the compartment door made her jump, she looked up hoping to see her two best friends Ron and Harry but instead there stood two grinning red heads.<br>"Hey Hermione" The said at the same time as they opened the door and walked in  
>"Hi guys" she muttered putting down her book<br>"Nice singing" The one who she thought to be Fred said sitting down next to her "You're really good". Hermione blushed and ducked her head so her hair fell over it, hiding the pink tinge on her cheeks  
>"Hah funny" she muttered sarcastically<br>"Honest" George said  
>"You have a good voice" Fred finished<br>"Thanks?" Hermione asked uncertainly  
>"So what band is that?" George asked "It has to be muggle since we had never heard it before"<br>"It is muggle… it's a band called Mcfly" She shrugged  
>"Oh cool name" Fred grinned<br>"Have you two seen Ron and Harry?" Hermione asked, they must have been on the train for at least forty minutes now and they hadn't found her, Harry hadn't written to her over the summer either, she had written to him but had never received a reply. The same for Ron, in the way that Harry hadn't replied to any of his letters. Yet she had seen them in Diagon Alley not a few days before and they seemed friendly enough then.  
>"No, afraid not" George muttered "Mum was going mad when they didn't come through the barrier"<br>"Not sure if they got on the train in time though" Fred finished  
>"Oh… well thanks I guess" Hermione muttered sadly standing up<br>"Hey where are you going?" Fred asked as she walked towards the compartment door. Hermione turned around and shrugged  
>"To find someone to sit with I guess, there has to be someone in my year to talk to" Hermione sighed walking out of the compartment readying herself for a long walk down the train to find someone she could talk to. Anyone was better than no one<br>"Why don't you stay with us?" Fred called to Hermione  
>"Really?" Hermione asked her eyebrows raised<br>"Really" the twins grinned together  
>"Okay, but pull one prank on me and im out of here" she smiled walking back into the compartment and sitting down. The rest of the ride flew by with Fred and George telling Hermione about all the pranks they had pulled on Ron throughout the years and what nasty tricks they had up their sleeves for the coming year. They also told Hermione some on their ridiculous jokes that made Hermione laugh although they weren't even funny. That day they became quite close and though it may not have shown throughout the years there was one thing that Hermione was sure about, and that was a feeling she had never felt before going out to a certain red headed twin.<p>

***End of Flashback type daydream thing***

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><p>"Hermione, were you even listening to me?" Harry asked<br>"Yes Harry I was" Hermione answered sighing "I was also thinking back to the day it all began" She looked down not really in the mood for talking about that day  
>"You want to talk about it?" Harry asked<p>

"No thanks" Hermione answered  
>"Listen... Mione-"Harry started but his sentence was cut short by the sound of footsteps on the staircase. Hermione and Harry jumped and sat low trying to hide. Hermione however couldn't help but sneak a look at who the intruders were. Quiet laughter hit the pairs ears and two red headed twins snuck down the stairs and through the common room, Harry held his breath as they walked past the sofa but the twins didn't even glance in their direction, once they had left the common room Hermione sat up again<br>"That was close" she muttered  
>"Too close" Harry agreed<br>"Well, im going to head up and get some sleep... G'night Harry" she muttered giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek then running quietly up the stairs towards the girls dorms  
>"Night" she heard Harry mutter <p>

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><p><strong>AN: So there is my first chapter. I hope you guys like it, this is what happens when Im sitting in Maths class bored out of my brains, but anyway please review and I will update soon, thanks guys**


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